The Great Harry Potter Re-Read

I’ve said elsewhere that I don’t really believe in the myth of the spoiler — the idea that knowing how something ends takes all the fun out of it. But I do hate it when I’m reading something and I can’t remember how it began. And now that the Deathly Hallows — whatever they are — are hard upon us, I find myself thinking: how long has it been since I actually read Sorcerer’s Stone? What in fact was the sorcerer’s stone? I mean I’m sure it was a stone or rock of some kind, exceedingly magical in nature, but what exactly…?

I’m kidding. Sort of. But I do feel like this is the last new Harry Potter book I’m ever going to read, and I really should come into it prepared to appreciate the richness of all the references and to “get it” when all of Rowling’s carefully laid plot points pay off. So I’m frog-marching myself back through as many of the books as I can to make sure I’m Potterologically sound by July 21. Feels like I’m cramming for my O.W.L.’s.

Anybody else doing the same thing? I don’t think I’ll ever not be stoked when Harry waves that wand in Ollivander’s, and all the sparks come out…